We study the relationship between decentralization of R&D, innovation and firm performance using a novel dataset on the organizational structure of 1,290 American publicly-listed corporations, 2,615 of their affiliate firms, as well as characteristics of 594,903 patents that they hold. We...

This paper examines the relation between ownership, corporate form, and innovation for a cross-section of private and publicly traded innovating firms in the US and 15 European countries. A striking novel observation emerges from our analysis: while most innovating firms in the US are publicly...

This paper studies the role of intrinsic motivation, reputation and reciprocity in driving open source software innovation. We exploit the observed pattern of contributions – the ‘revealed preference' of developers - to infer the underlying incentives. Using detailed information on code...

When is a nexus of contracts more firm-like? We theoretically and empirically address this question in the context of business groups. We develop a model where assets can be diverted from one group affiliate to another and asset redeployment is more valuable when firms operate in related...

This paper investigates the effect of financial development on the incentives to form business groups. We examine how this relation varies across exogenous industry conditions, legal environments, and firms' life cycle. Using a comprehensive dataset on group affiliation of European firms, we...

If scientific knowledge is a public good, why do firms invest in research? This paper revisits this classic question with new data on patent citations to scientific publications by corporations. Using data on 4,736 firms for the period 1980-2006, we document that corporate investment in research...

This paper examines the relationship between strategic decision-making at the subsidiary level and organization structure. In many organizations, the interaction between central headquarters and subsidiaries is mediated by the presence of intermediate organizational units. Building on the...

Academics, the media, and policymakers have all raised concerns about the implications of human workers being replaced by machines or software. Few have discussed the implications of the reverse: firms' ability to replace capital with workers. We show that this flexibility can help new firms...

Academics, the media, and policymakers have all raised concerns about the implications of human workers being replaced by machines or software. Few have discussed the implications of the reverse: firms' ability to replace capital with workers. We show that this flexibility can help new firms...

We study the impact of incentive pay, local development objectives and government constraints on university licensing performance. We develop and test a simple contracting model of technology licensing offices, using new survey information together with panel data on U.S. universities for...